After more than two years on the run, Islamic State top
cleric in Lebanon, Ahmed Al Assir was arrested by Lebanese authorities on
Saturday as he attempted to fly out of the country on a forged passport.
The country’s National News Agency reports that Mr. Al Assir
was caught at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday while
trying to board a flight to Egypt using a fake Palestinian passport.
It quoted Lebanon’s general security directorate as saying
Mr Al Assir was planning on flying to Nigeria via Cairo.
A photo posted by the National News Agency after the arrest
revealed that Mr. Al Assir had recently adopted a new look, shaving his long,
unkept beard and trading his usual religious robes and headwear for a more
inconspicuous jacket and sweater.
Some local news outlets suggested Mr Assir had also had
plastic surgery to alter his appearance. Mr Al Assir became one of the most
wanted men in Lebanon after his militia went to battle with the Lebanese army
in the port city of Sidon in 2013, resulting in the deaths of 18 soldiers and
dozens of Mr Al Assir’s gunmen.
When the war in Syria began emboldening extremist Sunnis in
Lebanon and inflaming sectarian tensions here, Mr Al Assir swiftly rose from
obscurity to become a powerful voice.
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